2015 January - September Recap

Ok, I've been terrible about keeping our family blog updated! I've now set-up a schedule for me to try to post something every two weeks to keep things a little more consistent...but figured for this weeks post I'd share highlights from 2015 so far.

Wiley/Cox/Perkins Family Cruise

We had an overall great time on our cruise with my family. (Jera did get a stomach bug that ended up passing along to me...so that wasn't so much fun.) However, this was Tony's first cruise EVER and he enjoyed the wonderful and lavish experience. I know that we'll definitely be doing another family cruise in the future!

 

 

 

We're HOMEOWNERS!!

 



On March the 13th Tony and I signed papers and closed on our very first house!! It feels so great having our own place and not having to live by other peoples rules. It is definitely a freeing experience...but we know there are also challenges that will be coming in our future, but we'll take them on with no hesitation. :-D



 

Baby Perkins 2.0 On the Way

 

We are excited to become parents AGAIN and we know that Jera will make a great older sister! We are due in February 2016 and are planning to find out what we're having, but not reveal it until our baby shower with the help of my Sister, Sarah! :-)

 

 

Jera Turned 3 on Monday!!

 

Jera has officially hit the three-nager stage of her life. Bwahahah...what a great way to put it! She's definitely got an independent attitude shining through, but still minds pretty well overall. She's in the process of transitioning to the 3 year old room at KinderCare, since she's fully potty trained they just have to wait for one of the 3's to turn 4 before she can completely make the transition. She had a great birthday as well and received a lot of fun games and activities that we can do with her to keep her entertained and learning in a fun way. :-)

 

 

There is our family updated for this year...hopefully I'll be able to keep this thing updated on a more regular basis to keep our family and friends updated near and far!!

 

Love,

 

Tony, Deanna, Jera and Baby Perkins!



 









2014 Teacher Appreciation Week

Hello All!!

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week and Kindercare had the kids and families participate. Below you can see our schedule and Jera's participation pictures. :-D

Monday: Hat Day

Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday: Team Apparel Day (so we had to cheat for this one, Jera has out grown ALL of her KSU outfits...so we put her in a purple dress and we're pretending the flower is a power cat. :-P)

Thursday: Favorite Character Day (also a sneak peek of this years Halloween costume)

Friday: PJ Day!! (Grandma and Grandpa Perkins should like the PJ's and Uncle Lee and Aunt Sandra should enjoy the slippers. :-D Thank you!!!)

Thank you to all of the amazing and wonderful teachers in this world!! You are amazing people who really help grow and guide our children. 

A special thanks to all the amazing teachers of Jera's Kindercare!! You are all full of smiles and fun and Jera loves being able to work and play with you every day!! Tony and I appreciate everything you do with her AND the continuous pictures, projects and updates you send home to us! These keep us updated on what she is doing and learning...it also makes us feel like we aren't missing a moment of what she is doing every day while we're at work. :-)

Have a happy Mother's Day weekend!!

Love,

Tony, Deanna, Jera and Eskimo Joe

May Happenings and April Art

Hello All!

It feels like awhile since we last brought you an update. We had a great month of April and spent our Easter weekend at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Ellinwood.

Spring has been fantastic, but we know Summer is right around the corner. 

For the month of May in Kindercare Land:

Classroom Happenings:

Animals - The toddlers will be exploring different types of animals through pictures, books, and pretending to take care of pets. Featured books for this unit are "Quick as a Cricket", "One Duck Stuck", and " Tiger Cub See and Do". The toddlers will also explore their creative side by making all different kinds of animal art. 

Kids Reading Corner:

Everyone is as unique and beautiful as a classic work of art, whether you are Great Wave off Kanagawa "with the power of the sea," or Starry Night, "a galaxy of love." Lift the flaps to reveal classic works of art beneath! A computing each masterpiece is a creative, colorful, and kid-oriented illustration, depicting children in a scene analogous to the one in the famous work. Every spread includes a loving poem about what makes you a unique work of art - just like the classic paintings and sculptures underneath the flaps!

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!!!

This runs from May 5-9!! Every day they have a different theme and we are going to participate the best we can, in hopes that Jera's class gets a pizza party!! Here are the themes:

Monday: Hat Day, wear your favorite hat to Kindercare

Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday: Favorite Sports Team, wear your favorite team apparel

Thursday: Favorite Character Day, anything from Cinderella to Spider-Man

Friday: PJ Day!!

I will be sure to take pictures and share with all of you after we're done with the week. :-)

Now it's Artwork time!

Jera's Kite

Top: Bee Bottom: Ants on a Blanket

For the week of the young child, Jera was nominated best giggle. 

Bottom: Spider

Jera's umbrella

Butterfly

Cloud

They also sent home some Easter Eggs in cute owl cups!! Love them. :-)

On May 3rd Tony and I will be participating in the toughest challenge yet, Tough Mudder. This is a 10-12 mile mud infested obstacle course. Just google search Tough Mudder and you'll get an idea. We'll see how this goes and I promise that there will be pictures to come!!

Have a happy last day of April!!!

Love,

Tony, Deanna and Jera

Dance, Dance Baby

Hello All!

Thought you'd enjoy a little fun update of some videos we took of Jera. We captured a little dance, some words and a funny game she made up with my help. Enjoy the good laugh and fun smiles!

What would a Jera update be without some of her fine pieces of art?? :-D ;-) :-P Enjoy the last few pieces of art work that Kindercare sent home with us.

We hope you all have a safe and happy St. Patty's Day Weekend. :-) We'll be heading to Garden to hangout with the Perkins side of the family. 

Love,

Tony, Deanna and Jera

March Update & Spring Fling

Hello All!!

March has a few fun events packed in for Kindercare. Today they had their Spring Fling for the toddlers and 2 year olds. (More about that later.) Kindercare is also participating in the Aggieville St. Patrick's Day Parade and families are invited to walk along with them...Jera, Tony and I just might need hop on that. 

This months reading corner is "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover" by Lucille Colandor:

 

There was an Old Lady who swallowed things over and over, and now she's come back to swallow a cover! She's back! That lovely old lady has returned just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Now she's swallowed up items to make the perfect rainbow to hide a pot of gold.
 

Class Room Happenings:

The toddlers will focus on things that everyone can see in the sky! They will talk about birds, aircraft, balloons, and even things pertaining to the weather. They will be making clouds, planes, lightning, and much more. 

Here are a couple pictures and videos from today's Spring Fling. They had programs, sang 3 songs and then had a reception with cookies and punch after they performed. Jera cracked me up, she's very good at her dancing and actions but didn't do much in the performance. One of these days I'll get a good video of her in action. :-)

 

Keep your eyes out for some future updates this month.  We're looking to go to Garden City to visit Tony's family this month, hopefully participate in the St. Patty's Day 10K Road Race and be in our first Kindercare family parade. :-D

End of February Update

Hello all!!

As most of you know, Tony and I got married on January 11th. :-D It was a beautiful wedding that was very personalized and we loved having all of our friends and family there to celebrate with us. 

We missed giving you an update during the holidays AND we didn't update you on our latest 5K. Yes, we're slackers. ;-)

(Tony and I on our Honeymoon. )

(Family holiday picture taken by Tony's sister Liz. )

(During the 2014 Run 4 Love 5K, we wogged it in almost 30 minutes!! Our next challenge will be the St. Patty's Day Road Race 10K in just a few weeks.)

Jera has been doing great at Kindercare! She is learning a lot, making great friends, being very active and trying new things. We had her parent teacher conferences yesterday and they are very happy with her progress. They want her to continue working on her routine and using her words. She's saying a lot right now. I'd say her favorite words are Shoe, Nite Nite, Joe, Baby and Ear. :-D

Today was picture day and she got to wear a very pretty and very purple dress. :-) Here's the preview:

For now I'll leave you with a art montage of some works of art by Jera!! :-D

Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for some more Kindercare updates including Jera's spring gala and professional photos. :-)

We love you all!!

Kindercare November Art & December Update

Hello All!!

This month Jera's room will be learning about Things That Go. They will learn about different types of vehicles and discover new things that Go! They will learn the importance of safety near vehicles. 

The recommended book of the month is Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini. 

Coming up in January they will have a Winter Gala. The kids will perform classroom/winter songs followed by a fun reception of cookies and hot chocolate. :-)

I realized that I hadn't given an update for November. Their theme was On The Farm and here are some of Jera's art projects. 

I also forgot to post a picture of Jera's Halloween costume...

That is all for now...I'll do a Thanksgiving update later this week. :-) 

Tata for now. 

Love Tony, Deanna and Jera